Tablets: IDC Cuts Forecast, But Still a Category in Demand

By Tiernan Ray

Another day, another bad data point for tablet computers: research firm IDC this morning declared it has cut its growth rate for the category almost in half, to 6.5% from 12.1%, or 233.1 million units, mostly because growth is not holding up in mature markets.

The firm does not make any explicit forecasts about Apple’s (AAPL) iPad nor Google’s (GOOGL) Android platform, of which Samsung Electronics (005930KS) is the biggest exemplar.

The firm’s analyst Jean Philippe Bouchard states that rather than a general slowdown, “we realize there is still a good appetite for this product category.” North America and Europe will be flat this year in unit shipments versus last year, but “remaining regional markets will generate 12% unit growth.”

The price gap is set to widen between mature and emerging markets, with $373 in the former and $302 in the latter.

The firm points to increased use of cellular, the authors argue people want a single device “and for some that single device is a tablet and not a smartphone”:

As an illustration of evolving tablet usage, shipments of tablets featuring a built-in option of voice calling over cellular networks in the Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan)(APeJ) region reached 25% this quarter, representing annual growth of 60%.

About Tech Trader Daily

Tech Trader Daily is a blog on technology investing written by Barron’s veteran Tiernan Ray. The blog provides news, analysis and original reporting on events important to investors in software, hardware, the Internet, telecommunications and related fields. Comments and tips can be sent to: techtraderdaily@barrons.com.